Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The No. 16/15 Eckerd Tritons men's basketball team had been perfect on its home court for nearly a year, but that streak was snapped by the visiting Rollins Tars in overtime, 82-79, while
E.J. Moody displayed an impressive outing on the hardwood.
The first half was a flawless offensive performance for Moody as he shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the field including a trio of 3-pointers for 15 points. Although he already bested his season-high 14 points, Moody was not done yet as the Tritons still trailed 37-30 entering the break after chipping away at a game-high 14-point deficit with 4:03 to play in the first half.
The Tars (15-6, 7-3 SSC) extended their lead to nine on two occasions, but a pair of fastbreaks prevented the difference of returning to double-digits.
Kevin Walsh stole the ball from Kyle Koszuta and found a streaking
Jerrick Stevenson for a breakaway dunk for the first. Two minutes later,
Obi Kyei took on the role of Walsh in the previous play as Walsh finished with an easy layup.
Though the Tritons (18-4, 9-2 SSC) used four uninterrupted free throws - the result of a personal foul on the court and technical foul on the Rollins bench - to make it a one-possession game, it took another two minutes for EC to claim its first lead of the contest. That lead finally came when Moody hit a jumper inside the arc to put the Tritons up 66-65 with 27 seconds remaining. However, traditional 3-point play by Sam Philpott put the Tars back up two with 7 seconds to go.
Moody marched down the court and showed great court awareness to draw his defender into the air on a pump fake earning a trip to the free throw line for three shots. Rollins used its three remaining timeouts before each shot in an attempt to ice the senior. He went on to hit the bookends but missed the second, leaving the game tied. Stevenson intercepted the ensuing inbound play, but his last second attempt from half court was off the mark, sending the contest to overtime.
Trevon Young scored quickly in the paint off a Moody assist to give the Tritons a two-point lead, but Jack Fleming answered with a 3-pointer to give the Tars what would become the final lead of the game.
The new career-high for Moody was also the game high at 32 points as he shot 11-of-17 from the field including 6-of-10 from behind the arc. He also pulled down six rebounds and dished out three assists. Walsh followed 12 points on a trio of triples. Kyei and Young joined Moody with a team-high six boards while Young was the only other Triton to reach double figures with 10 points.
Eckerd's last loss at home occurred on February 25, 2015 when the Saint Leo Lions defeated the Tritons, 67-63, ending a run of 13 consecutive victories in the McArthur Center.
The loss has Barry (16-3, 9-2 SSC) joining Eckerd at the top of the Sunshine State Conference standings, both just one game ahead of Rollins.
The next contest for the Tritons is across the bay at Tampa (6-14, 2-8 SSC) on Saturday, February 6. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 4:00 pm. On December 5, Eckerd took the first meeting in convincing fashion, 81-58.
